SYMBIO-X Health builds AI-enabled wearable sensors that decode the body’s electrical, mechanical, and chemical signals to predict and prevent disease.
SYMBIO-X Health is a Vanderbilt spin-out developing the first hardware-firmware co-designed wearable that delivers Doppler-grade cardiac valve metrics continuously at home—eliminating dependence on facility-based echo/MRI.
The Problem
Aortic stenosis (AS) is often discovered late, requiring imaging for confirmation. Once symptoms appear (dyspnea, chest pain, syncope), untreated survival averages 2–3 years, with ~50% mortality in that window and rapid deterioration in some patients. There is no scalable remote monitoring solution, allowing risk to escalate silently.
Our Solution
SYMBIO-X integrates biopotential, mechano-acoustic, and motion sensing with millisecond-level synchronization on-device. In >60 clinical deployments across healthy to severe AS cohorts, our edge-AI achieves >85% accuracy for key echo-derived markers (Acceleration Time and LVET)—delivering longitudinal, imaging-grade trendlines that flag progression early and support triage to echo/TAVR.
Why Now
Hospitals face capacity constraints, payers are shifting to risk-based models, and cardiology demands trusted home metrics beyond step counts. SYMBIO-X provides clinically interpretable parameters that align directly with existing workflows and guidelines.
Platform Potential
The same synchronized sensing stack has demonstrated ~20-second early signatures before surface-EEG seizure onset in pilots—showing broad applicability beyond cardiology.
SYMBIO-X: Imaging-grade intelligence, made wearable.
Leadership & Expertise
- Dr. Yayun Du – Founder/CEO
Assistant Professor of ECE at Vanderbilt; former senior postdoctoral scholar in John A. Rogers’ group at Northwestern. Led multiple clinically deployed multimodal wearable platforms across cardiology, neurology, neonatology, and adult monitoring, with >100 human deployments globally. - Technical Team
PhD-level experts in circuit design, flexible electronics, embedded firmware, and edge AI/ML—actively co-developing the synchronized sensing stack and 3rd-generation prototypes. - Clinical Support
Backed by structural heart cardiologists at Vanderbilt for protocol design, recruitment, and Doppler/MRI reference labeling.
The team excels at the precise intersection of signals, hardware, and clinical relevance—engineering established cardiology gold standards into home-deployable, reimbursable solutions.
SYMBIO-X enters cardiology via remote AS severity monitoring as a reimbursable risk-stratification service—delivering Doppler-grade trendlines between imaging encounters.
Revenue Model
Per-patient-per-month subscription billed through cardiology groups, with devices bundled into existing RPM workflows for patients under valve disease or pre-TAVR evaluation.
Phased Rollout
- Phase 1 (2025–2026)
Deploy through 3–5 strategic cardiology sites to generate outcomes data; package AS trending as decision support for echo; build payer-aligned analytics to reduce unnecessary imaging while escalating true progression. - Phase 2
Expand to heart-failure and valve surveillance within integrated delivery networks bearing risk.
Key Partnerships Pursued
- Cardiology service lines for validation and early adoption
- Hospital systems/IDNs shifting to value-based care and bundled TAVR pathways
- Payers for coverage alignment
- Device manufacturers (valves/echo OEMs) to embed SYMBIO-X as continuous pre-screening
SYMBIO-X is a cardiology escalation engine connecting the silent period between scans to timely intervention—creating strong fee-aligned pull from physicians, payers, and structural heart programs.
SYMBIO-X monetizes clinical insight, not hardware—delivering Doppler-grade Acceleration Time / LVET trendlines.
Primary Revenue Model (2026 Launch)
- Care-Team Subscription
$/patient/month (includes software + devices) - Physician Interpretation
CPT-aligned monthly review (shared revenue with cardiology groups)
Plugs directly into existing RPM/RTM billing workflows used for implantable monitors and HF vitals.
Secondary Revenue Layers (2027+)
- Enterprise licenses to hospital systems/IDNs for AS surveillance cohorts
- Outcomes-aligned contracts with payers (reduce unnecessary echo; optimize TAVR timing)
- Pharma/device company endpoints for structural heart trials (continuous valve timing as new biomarker)
Hardware is subsidized or at cost to drive uptake—margin resides in analytics and interpretation. Platform expansion to additional indications increases profitability using the same signal stack.
Investment Opportunity
SYMBIO-X is raising $4.8M seed to transition clinically validated prototypes into a reimbursable, multi-site remote cardiology service.
This capital advances from TRL 5–6 to TRL 7–8, establishing SYMBIO-X as standard-of-care valve trajectory surveillance.
Use of Funds
| Purpose | Key Activities |
|---|---|
| DFM + Pilot Manufacturing | 300–500 device batch (flex PCB + ASIC miniaturization) |
| Regulatory Pathway | Q-sub meeting + pivotal AS outcomes study protocol |
| Software + AI | Production-grade inference engine + physician UI + HL7/FHIR integration |
| Commercial Pilots | Launch with 3–5 cardiology partners in 2026 |
| Reimbursement Positioning | Payer pilots + RPM billing playbooks |
Strong market pull exists: structural heart programs are at capacity, cardiologists are reimbursed for remote data review, and payers seek pre-imaging stratification. The AS wedge opens exponential surface area into heart failure, valve repair, pulmonary hypertension, and cardiac rehab.
SYMBIO-X has achieved core clinical signal proof with its 3rd-generation hardware-firmware platform at TRL 5–6.
Key Achievements
- Custom flexible PCB with >1 kHz synchronized multi-modal acquisition, BLE edge compute, and validated ambulatory packaging
- >60 human deployments across AS severity cohorts under IRB studies at Vanderbilt
- >500 hours of synchronized ECG-SCG-motion datasets
- AI models delivering >85% accuracy for Acceleration Time and LVET vs. Doppler echo, with actionable longitudinal trends
IP Position
- Proprietary synchronization architecture
- Motion-based valve timing inference
- Firmware-level temporal alignment
- AI mapping to echo-derived parameters (priority filing in preparation)
Next 6 Months
- Reliability testing and DFM review
- Packaging for 200–300 device batch
- Cardiology partner onboarding
- Payer advisory board formation
Transitioning from research prototype to clinical-ready optimization with clear roadmap to scalable remote AS risk stratification.
SYMBIO-X Health is currently supported by NIH grants and Vanderbilt internal funds.
An invited DoD application is under review.
No equity funding raised to date—now seeking seed investment to accelerate commercialization.
